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Mookie likes to get his way and when he wants something he lets me know it. For example, when he wants breakfast he will knock everything he can off of my night stand until I get up and feed him. When he wants dinner he will flop down by the door when I come home and insist on a belly rub until he is satisfied and then run to the kitchen and yell at me to feed him.

Here is my belly…what are you waiting for?

He will wait by the closet in the kitchen where the food is until he is satisfied that the can of food I have chosen meets his standard. So I really didn’t have a choice when Mookie told me he was tired of not having a bread named after him and if I didn’t rectify the situation there would be serious consequences.

For this reason and this reason alone, I present to you a bread worthy of its namesake. Mookie loves hot cocoa and he is a big potato fan as well. This bread also has some espresso powder, pistachio oil, and assorted flours since Mookie has a sophisticated palate.

Mookie did insist on having the bread have his likeness on it, so since I don’t have a cat mold I used a cookie cutter to make a bread cookie to adorn the top of the bread. I am not sure if he approves of how it looks since it doesn’t have any white in it, but he said he will overlook that if it tastes good.

I am happy to report that the bread is nice and moist and you taste the espresso powder and a hint of the hot chocolate. The rye chops and First Clear flour along with the Oat flour and White Rye give this bread a nice earthy flavor that Mookie liked so much he refused to share it with his brother and 3 sisters.

I made 1 large boule with this recipe but you can easily make 2 smaller loaves if desired.

The total hydration of this dough is 71% which made a nice wet dough and a final moist loaf.

I used my standard 65% AP starter for this recipe.

Directions

AP Starter

227 grams AP Flour

71 grams AP Seed Starter

151 grams Water at Room Temperature (80-90 degrees F.)

Mix ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 8 hours. The starter should almost double when ready to proceed. You can either mix in final dough or put in refrigerator for at most 1 day before using. If your kitchen is warmer than mine which is usually about 70-72 degrees with my air-conditioning you can proceed sooner.

Mix the flours, and rye chops with the hot chocolate in your mixer or by hand for 1 minute. Let it rest covered in your bowl for 20-30 minutes. Next cut the starter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture in the bowl and also add the oil, salt, potatoes and the water. Mix for 4 minute to incorporate all the ingredients. I mixed on speed #1 for 3 minutes and speed #2 for 1 minutes. The dough should have come together in a ball and be tacky but not too sticky.

Next take the dough out of the bowl and place it on your work surface or as in this case place it in an oiled bowl or container. Do a stretch and fold and rest the dough uncovered for 10 minutes. After the rest do another stretch and fold and cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Do one more stretch and fold and put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature covered for 2 hours (if it is already in a bowl just make sure to cover it). After 2 hours you can put the dough into the refrigerator for 24 hours or up to 2 days before baking. Feel free to do some additional S & F’s if you feel it is necessary. I baked the bread about 24 hours later.

The next day (or when ready to bake) let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours.

Next, form the dough into your desired shape and put them in floured bannetons, bowls or on a baking sheet and let them rise covered for 2 hours or until they pass the poke test. Just make sure to not let them over-rise.

I saved a small piece of dough and used a cat shaped cookie cutter to create the Mookie decoration.

I let this rise covered with a towel and when ready to bake the loaves I glued it on the loaf with some water. In hindsight I should have adhered the dough better as it kind of puffed up and looks like a handle. Hey, I guess that could be a new concept….a built-in carry handle for your loaf of bread!

Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 30 minutes before ready to bake. When ready to bake place the loaves into your on your oven stone with steam and lower the temperature immediately to 450 degrees. When both loaves are golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. you can remove them from the oven. Since this was one large loaf it took about 45 minutes to bake.

Let the loaves cool down for at least an 6 hours or so before eating as desired.